Update

I just wanted to say that I am still very much enjoying my alarm lamp. Even though it's summer now and the sun is up well before I need to get up (most days), it is still a better way to wake up.

There is a large, leafy gingko tree outside my bedroom window (as you've heard), so even though the sun's out, not that much light comes in during the early part of the day. (The window faces west too.) So the lamp coming on still makes quite a difference in the dim room.

I heartily recommend this system to anyone who wants a better way to wake up.

In other news, I'm starting to have bloggy thoughts again. I just haven't had time to write them down here yet. But I think that will come again soon. Meanwhile, I've been experiencing a strange aversion to putting certain things on facebook. Perhaps I'm going through a more private phase. Bizarre.

Finally, Some Good News for the Other Side

You know all those articles about how being happy will make you live longer? The ones that imply you should just decide to be happy in order to increase your longevity?

Well, in case that wasn't working out so well for you, here's another perspective: being grumpy helps you make better decisions. Straight from the BBC. (Figures it would be the Brits to discover this, eh?)

They do note that happiness is better for creativity, which brings into question the whole "tortured artist" thing. So I suppose us moody people must have the best of both worlds.

Bottom Ten

I'm back!

The huge anniversary event at my church was this weekend. The renovation project isn't totally done, of course, but the event is over. I am hoping this will mean I can get back to blogging regularly again.

For instance, last night on facebook I posted a note about the top ten things that rocked about this event. Facebook is a place for positivity.

My blog doesn't have to be. So here are the Bottom Ten Things about the event...

10. People were still mocking my attention to detail (which some people have the nerve to call micro-managing and others control-freakishness) even while we were getting all sorts of compliments for how well organized everything was.

9. A grand piano which was on its side fell over in the night and broke a window. (Technically, this wasn't an event happening, but without the project, the piano wouldn't have been on its side in the first place.) I am going to have to investigate this further because it's not very clear how it happened or who might have been there. But I know it hadn't happened as of about 7:00 last night. Honestly, I'm more annoyed about the window than I am concerned about the piano. It's been an albatross for years and needed to leave anyway. Perhaps now it will.

8. There were many coolers lent to the church for this event. Four of them were ours. Of those four, two had detachable lids. They are currently the only two lids unaccounted for.

7. My forehead has evidently decided to protect itself from the heat, humidity, sweat and sun by covering itself with acne.

6. In unlocking every door yesterday morning, I discovered a graffitti tag on the back steps we never use.

5. Hmmm....

Well, actually, that's about all I can think of to complain about. Whenever people say they can't complain when you ask how they are, I always say (usually silently in my head) "Sure you can. Try a little harder." I have a lot of respect for complaining. As a detail person, I am aware that complaints are one of the paths toward improvement. I'm pretty good at it too, so maybe that's why I like it so much. but truly, there was so much that was right about this incredible event, that I think I just needed to say these few little things in this relatively safe space, so that I can move on back to being amazed and grateful, which is what I am mostly.